Apoptotic or programmed cell death plays a crucial role in development and a number of homeostatic and disease processes (Thompson, 1995). New therapeutic strategies of a variety of diseases may therefore be possible through the modulation of apoptotic cell death. The study of new pharmacologic agents to promote or inhibit apoptotic cell death has been impeded by the lack of a non-invasive method(s) to detect and monitor apoptotic cell death in vivo.
Lipid proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (.sup.1 H NMRS) has been found to be useful in the detection of the specific changes of composition and/or fluidity of the plasma membrane of lymphoblasts and other cell lines undergoing apoptotic cell death (Blankenberg, et al., 1996). Clinical use of lipid .sup.1 H NMRS study apoptosis is currently limited by complex local magnetic microenvironments found naturally in many tissues and organs.